Molded pulp pallet frame

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to a molded pulp pallet frame for use in erecting a product display for light weight products in flexible packaging among other products.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/551,578 filed Aug. 29, 2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a low cost, light weight shelving display that is easily assembled from components that utilize recycled material and the display is ideal for light weight food products such snack food in flexible bags.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Product displays are commonly used in retail locations to display items for sale. It is common for displays to be erected from paperboard blanks that have fold lines. The instructions can be somewhat complicated or time consuming, thus expensive to implement in large scale or high volume. Since such displays are commonly used for a short period of time and then disposed of, it is desirable to utilize recycled components that are themselves recyclable. It is also desirable for such product displays to be easily assembled so that staff members at the retail location can erect the displays without assistance from the product supplier. It is also desirable to minimize the costs of the displays in terms of materiel used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a pallet chassis assembly having a unitary body supporting a shelf tray. The unitary body is of a molded pulp material having a pair of elongate support beams. The support beams extend transverse to one another at an angle from 20° to 90° and intersect one another at an intermediate portion of each to form a generally x-shaped body. The x-shaped body has a planar upper surface. The body further has a plurality of legs extending along a line generally perpendicular to the upper surface. Each leg has a wall enclosing a chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from another similarly configured unitary body to define a nesting arrangement. Each leg has an opening into the chamber at one end and a ground engaging structure at the opposite end. The shelf tray engages the plurality of legs and is of a corrugated sheet having an upper surface, and a lower surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings and attachments in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a product display of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a nested stack of a plurality of unitary bodies, or skeletons, of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an assembly view of a system for forming a full pallet chassis of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is perspective view of the product display of FIG. 1 with products.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a skeleton for a half pallet chassis.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a half pallet chassis display with products.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a skeleton for a quarter pallet chassis.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a quarter pallet chassis display with products.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a skeleton.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of a quarter pallet skeleton.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a ground engaging member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

FIG. 1 shows a product display assembly 10 having a stack of pallet chassis assemblies 12, a top cap 14, and a standard pallet 16. Each pallet chassis assembly 12 has a unitary body 20 and a shelf tray 22. The pallet chassis of FIGS. 1-3 is known as a full pallet chassis as it is dimensioned to cover a standard pallet of 48×40 inches. The pallet chassis shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 show a half pallet chassis and thus two half-pallet chassis assemblies are used per shelf 24 when used with a standard pallet 16. Similarly, the pallet chassis 12 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 show a quarter pallet chassis, and, thus, four quarter-pallet chassis assemblies are used per shelf 24 when used with a standard pallet 16. Otherwise, a half pallet 16′ (FIG. 6) can accommodate two quarter pallet chassis or a single half pallet chassis per shelf 24. Also, a quarter pallet 16″ (FIG. 8) can accommodate a single quarter pallet chassis per shelf 24.

FIG. 1 shows the display 10 using three full-sized pallet assemblies 12 forming 4 shelves 24. While three full-sized pallet assemblies 12 are shown, fewer or greater number of such could be provided without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, anywhere from 1 full-sized pallet assembly 12 to 10 full-sized pallet assemblies 12 could be used to form a product display 10 on a single standard pallet 16. Thus, a display can have from 1 to ten shelves, for example.

The unitary body 20, which may sometimes be referred to as a skeleton, has a pair of elongate support beams 30 and a plurality of legs 32. The elongate support beams 30 have a length dimension greater than a width dimension and intersect one another at an intermediate portion 35 of their length at an angle α to form a generally x-shaped body. The angle α is about 79° shown in FIG. 3 but can be anywhere from 20° to 90°. For example, the angle α for the half pallet chassis of FIG. 5 is about 45°, and for the quarter pallet chassis of FIG. 7 is about 80°. The support beams 30 have a planar upper surface 34 to support the shelf tray 22 or top cap 14. The support beams 30 may also have a pair of channels 45 flanking the planar upper surface 34 to strengthen the unitary body 20. The channels 45 extend along a length dimension of the support beams 30. Other structures can be formed in the unitary body to strengthen the support beams 30, the legs or other parts of the display.

Each leg 32 of the plurality of legs 32 extends along a line generally perpendicular to the upper surface 34. Each leg 32 has a wall 50 enclosing a chamber 52 (FIG. 10) dimensioned to receive a leg from another similarly configured unitary body to define a nesting arrangement 53 (FIG. 2). Each leg 32 has an opening 54 into the chamber 52 at one end and a ground engaging structure 60 at the opposite end. The chamber has a polygonal shape in cross section and preferably is triangular or rectangular. FIG. 10 shows a portion of the wall 52 tapers 62 radially outwardly from the opening 40 to the ground engaging member 60. FIG. 11 shows the ground engaging member 60 closes an end of the chamber 52 and has an upstanding member 64 to strengthen the ground engaging member 60.

It is desirable for the leg to be taller than a product to be used with the display 10. In one preferred form of the invention, the leg will be substantially taller than a thickness of the cross beams. What is meant by “substantially” is from 2 to 50 times, more preferably 3 to 30 times, and most preferably 5 to 25 times. It is desirable that the display have viewing “windows” as large as possible for optimal display of products in the display. What is meant by “windows” are the rectangular-shaped openings formed between each set of legs forming end edges defining a vertical dimension of the windows and two adjacent shelf trays (or a shelf tray and a top tray) forming a top and bottom horizontal edges of the windows.

The unitary body 20 of the full pallet chassis has a peripheral wall 80 that connects all of the legs 32 and defines an inner space 82. The support beams 30 are positioned in the inner space 82 and connect to the peripheral wall at the four vertexes. The peripheral wall shown is generally rectangular but could be of other shapes such as polygons, circles and ovals. Suitable polygons will have from 3 sides to 10 sides and preferably are regular polygons having sides of equal length and separated by equal angles. Suitable polygons include triangles, squares, rectangles, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons, nonagons and decagons. Most preferably, the polygon is a rectangle. The peripheral wall 82 has an upper planar surface 84 that is coplanar with the upper surface 34 of the support beams. The peripheral wall has segments 86 that correspond to edges of the polygon so a rectangular peripheral wall will have a first and a second segment extending along a first direction and spaced from one another along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The rectangular peripheral wall also has a third and a fourth segment extending along the second line with the third segment connecting a first end of the first and second segments. The fourth segment will connect the second end of the first and second segments.

The unitary body is shaped or molded from a pulp material and will be referred to as molded pulp. Molded pulp is a material of a recycled paperboard and newspaper and is formed into the desired shape using molds. Suitable techniques include slush molding, vacuum forming, transfer molding, take-off molding, and cure-in-the-mold technology to name a few. The molded pulp material can have additives such as: corn starch based biodegradable polymers (injection molded or vacuum/thermo formed); structural foam additives (injection molded); sustainable wood-plastic composites from bio-based polyamide 11, beech wood fiber or other similar mix; HIPS (high impact polystyrene); and MIPS (medium impact polystyrene). The molded pulp provides a rigid, light weight substrate for supporting shelves. The molded pulp displays are particularly suitable for supporting light weight products such as bags of snack chips, cereals, dried fruits, and other salty snacks, and particularly where the product is in a flexible bag 70 as shown in FIGS. 4,6,8.

In a preferred form of the invention, the molded pulp material will be capable of recycle using standard paperboard recycling techniques as opposed to recycling techniques for polymeric materials. Also, the unitary body is “disposable” meaning that it can be rid of by placing in standard waste disposal streams and capable of being buried in landfills. It is also desirable the molded pulp material be a “sustainable packaging material”—made of recycled material and capable of being recycled.

The shelf tray 22 and the top plate 14 have the same construction and will be described with respect to the shelf tray 22. The shelf tray 22 has a web of material having an upper surface, a lower surface, and, in a preferred form, is dimensioned to be placed on top of and cover an entire surface area of the planar upper surface 34. The shelf tray 22 has an upstanding wall 90 disposed about the periphery of the web of material or sheet. The upstanding wall can have the same shape as the peripheral wall including polygonal, circular and oval. Preferably, the upstanding wall is in the same of a rectangle or a square. The shelf tray 22 is fabricated from a material such as corrugated paperboard, corrugated plastic, plastic sheeting, paper sheeting, molded pulp, and the like. The upstanding wall is dimensioned to receive the legs of the unitary body in corners to prevent the unitary body from sliding or moving. The shelf tray has the upstanding wall extending upward and the top plate 14 has the upstanding wall extending downward. The shelf tray engages the ground engaging portion of the legs and the top cap covers the top of the chassis and covers over the holes 40 into the chambers.

The shelf tray is formed from a blank of material that can be die cut to size and have a fold line separating the upstanding wall from the planar sheet and the upstanding wall can be folded from the blank.

Erecting a display 10 from the individual parts is easy and can be accomplished without tools and with a modicum of mechanical skills by an untrained user. The necessary components include a plurality of unitary bodies such as in a nested stack 53, a plurality of shelf trays, and a top cap. A shelf tray is placed on top of the pallet and a skeleton is placed on top with the legs facing downwardly and received within the corners of the tray. A second shelf tray is placed on top of the first skeleton to form a second shelf. This process is repeated until the desired number of shelves is reached. The top cap can provide a shelf whose top is not covered. Product can then be loaded onto the shelves for display and sale.

Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be protected otherwise than as specifically described. 

I/We claim:
 1. A pallet frame comprising: a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a pair of elongate support beams extending transverse to one another at an angle from 20° to 90° and intersecting one another at an intermediate portion to form a generally x-shaped body with a planar upper surface, each support beam having opposed ends, the unitary body further having a plurality of legs extending along a line generally perpendicular to the upper surface, each leg of the plurality of legs has a wall enclosing a chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from another similarly configured unitary body to define a nesting arrangement, each leg of the plurality of legs has an opening into the chamber at one end and a ground engaging structure at an opposite end of the leg.
 2. The pallet frame of claim 1 further comprising a peripheral wall connecting the plurality of legs.
 3. The pallet frame of claim 2 wherein the peripheral wall has a shape selected from the group of polygonal, circular, and oval.
 4. The pallet frame of claim 3 wherein the peripheral wall has a first segment and a second segment extending along a first direction and spaced from one another along a second direction transverse to the first direction, the peripheral wall further having a third segment and a fourth segment extending along the second direction, the third segment attaching one end of each of the first and second segments respectively at a first vertex and a second vertex, and the fourth segment attaching an opposed end of the first and second segments respectively at a third vertex and a fourth vertex.
 5. The pallet frame of claim 4 wherein one support beam of the pair of support beams connects the first vertex to the fourth vertex, and the other support beam of the pair of support beams connects the second vertex to the third vertex.
 6. The pallet frame of claim 5 wherein the polygon is a rectangle or a square.
 7. The pallet frame of claim 1 further comprising a strengthening member on the x-shaped body.
 8. The pallet frame of claim 7 wherein the strengthening member comprises a channel running along a portion of each of the pair of elongate support beams.
 9. A pallet chassis system comprising: a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a pair of elongate support beams extending transverse to one another at an angle from 20° to 90° and intersecting one another at an intermediate portion to form a generally x-shaped body with a planar upper surface, each support beam having opposed ends, the unitary body further having a plurality of legs extending along a line generally perpendicular to the upper surface, each leg of the plurality of legs has a wall enclosing a chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from another similarly configured unitary body to define a nesting arrangement, each leg of the plurality of legs has an opening into the chamber at one end and a ground engaging structure at an opposite end of the leg; and a shelf tray of a corrugated sheet having an upper surface, a lower surface, and dimensioned to be placed on top of and cover an entire surface area of the planar upper surface.
 10. The pallet chassis system of claim 9 wherein the shelf tray has an upstanding wall extending about a periphery of the sheet.
 11. The pallet chassis system of claim 10 wherein the upstanding wall is dimensioned to engage each of the plurality of legs when the pallet chassis system is in a use condition.
 12. The pallet chassis system of claim 9 wherein the polygonal shape is a rectangle or a square and has four edges and four vertexes.
 13. The pallet chassis of claim 12 further comprising a peripheral wall connecting the plurality of legs.
 14. The pallet chassis of claim 13 wherein the peripheral wall has a first segment and a second segment extending along a first direction and spaced from one another along a second direction transverse to the first direction, the peripheral wall further having a third segment and a fourth segment extending along the second direction, the third segment attaching one end of each of the first and second segments respectively at a first vertex and a second vertex, and the fourth segment attaching an opposed end of the first and second segments respectively at a third vertex and a fourth vertex.
 15. The pallet chassis of claim 14 wherein one support beam of the pair of support beams connects the first vertex to the fourth vertex, and the other support beam of the pair of support beams connects the second vertex to the third vertex.
 16. A pallet chassis assembly comprising: a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a pair of elongate support beams extending transverse to one another at an angle from 20° to 90° and intersecting one another at an intermediate portion to form a generally x-shaped body with a planar upper surface, each support beam having opposed ends, the unitary body further having a plurality of legs extending along a line generally perpendicular to the upper surface, each leg of the plurality of legs has a wall enclosing a chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from another similarly configured unitary body to define a nesting arrangement, each leg of the plurality of legs has an opening into the chamber at one end and a ground engaging structure at an opposite end of the leg; and a shelf tray engaging the plurality of legs and being of a corrugated sheet having an upper surface, and a lower surface.
 17. The assembly of claim 16 wherein the shelf tray engages the ground engaging structure.
 18. The assembly of claim 16 wherein the shelf tray engages the opening of each leg.
 19. The assembly of claim 16 wherein the shelf tray has an upstanding wall about a periphery of the sheet.
 20. The assembly of claim 17 further comprising a second shelf tray engaging the opening of each leg. 